Senior Level Recruitment and Search Firms Procedure

Final Approval Body: SLT

Senior Administrative Position with Responsibility: Associate Vice-Principal Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion

Date Initially Approved: July 2022

Purpose of Procedure

The procedure aims to establish a course of action by which Queen’s University can attract and hire Senior executives and Mid-level professionals with high-level experience, knowledge, and commitment to its institutional Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-racism (I-EDIAA) goals.

Procedure

The steps below must be followed along with the Employment Equity Policy, the Employment Equity Procedure, the Procurement Policy, Procedure, Process Guideline, the existing procedures for faculty appointments, hiring and recruitment tools developed by Queen’s University.

Step 1 – Search Plan:

Before the hiring committee is formed, the hiring manager and/or Unit head/appointments committee chair should sketch an initial search plan based on the senior executive or mid-level professional vacancy functions. The search plan shall confirm whether an external search firm will be used to conduct the search and may include employment equity goals, position responsibilities, expectations and timetables.

Step 2 – Forming the Hiring Committee:

The Hiring Committee should include members from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Unit heads are to be mindful of the service burden placed on members of equity-deserving groups who are often asked to participate on multiple administrative and hiring committees.

Step 3 – Establishing search firm responsibilities:

If applicable, before selecting a search firm, the hiring manager and/or unit head/appointments committee chair should outline the specific work scope of the search firm based on the search plan. For example, whether the hired firm will be responsible for advertising, conducting background checks and participating in interviews.

Step 4 – Selection of preferred search firm

a) Preferred Supplier List: The hiring manager, hiring committee, and/or unit head/appointments committee chair should review the information about preferred vendor search firms. Units are to follow the threshold values outlined in the Preferred Supplier Programs to determine the required number of quotes. It is strongly recommended that units contact more than one firm to find out if the required recruitment is a position that they are skilled in recruiting for and have successfully found qualified candidates.

b) Exception request to use another supplier: If the qualified suppliers on the two programs are unable to meet the recruitment requirements for the unit to find a successful candidate, then the unit may consider going to a non-Preferred Supplier. Exception requests must be to Strategic Procurement Service. Human Rights and Equity approval prior to signing any documentation and/or commencement of the recruitment is required. The Procurement Policy must be adhered to in these situations.

Note: Exception requests must be for rare circumstances and must include a strong rationale for why a Preferred Supplier cannot be utilized. Additionally, the proposed external search firm must complete Appendix A of this Procedure document for the exception request to be considered. All supporting documentation for an exception request as outlined in this step must be attached in the acQuire requisition and the approval from Human Rights and Equity.

c) During the Request for Supplier Qualification (RFSQ) process for the Preferred Suppliers, Recruitment Services program, the supplier must complete Appendix A requirement and be evaluated by Human Rights and Equity.

Step 5 – Active Equitable Strategies:

The Employment Equity Representative on the Hiring Committee should review the unit’s representation rates using the Queen's Equity Appointments Process (QEAP) application. The Employment Equity Representative must ensure that equity considerations are included throughout the search process and send all candidates a self-identification questionnaire using the QEAP application. Only the Employment Equity Representative will have access to this information.

Step 6 – Develop a diverse applicant pool:

Search firms must make active efforts to attract a diverse pool of candidates by taking actions such as using inclusive language in the advertising, posting the position to multiple outlets that reach diverse audiences, and using innovative, and ethical, recruitment techniques. When the candidate pool is deemed not sufficiently diverse, the hiring committee must request that the search firm broaden the search to identify additional qualified candidates from equity-deserving groups. The Committee may supplement the firm’s recruitment efforts should it fail to propose a representative applicant pool.

Step 7 – Feedback:

The committee's Employment Equity Representative may share feedback regarding the search firm through the QEAP application. The input should address whether the search firm met the employment equity and confidentiality expectations, areas of the process that were effective, and areas that might have been improved.